NTI Folx Tales:
A Celebration of the
Narrative Worldview
Folx Tales is a recurring conference hosted by NTI with hopes to link lives and grow community around the Narrative Worldview. It is a conference born from a yearning to relate to each other and to our work from our hearts, not only through academic ideas or prescribed therapy methods.
With Folx Tales, we asked ourselves what a conference might look like if we organized it around this key narrative belief: that every person and community has vast, rich, valuable knowledges that are deeply precious and worthy of sharing. All we need to do is bring our genuine curiosity and willingness to be moved to new, unpredictable places.
In this spirit, Folx Tales presenters are members of our growing narrative community — therapists, community activists, poets, artists, organizers — who share important stories of their lives and work, including ways the Narrative Worldview has shaped how they approach people and problems. They are people who regularly inspire us in how they live and work hard every day in ways shaped by narrative ideas and ethics.
Participants at Folx Tales are invited into a different kind of witnessing position than traditional conference structures, one that emphasizes a two-way relationship between presenter and audience. The structure of listening and responding to the presentations at Folx Tales is shaped by Outsider Witnessing Practices. We have found that this approach to witnessing opens up many rich possibilities for learning that are exciting and unpredictable.
In the spirit of Solidarity and Celebration, Folx Tales also weaves in music and poetry throughout the gathering, along with an exciting community art project that all participants have a chance to contribute to.
Our first Folx Tales conference was titled: Folx Tales: Co-Creating Preferred Stances on White Supremacy and Toxicity. It was held online during the pandemic and facilitated by June Cardona, Ceci Douglas, Steve Gaddis, and marcela polanco.
Our most recent conference — NTI Folx Tales: A Celebration of the Narrative Worldview — was held in person at the NonProfit Center in Boston, MA and featured Vikki Reynolds, a Steve Gaddis Roundtable, street poet Frank Escamilla, and nine incredible presentations from members of our growing narrative community. It was a profoundly rich experience, and we’re still learning of new ripples it has created in people’s lives.
Check back here or sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about our next Folx Tales event!
What folx are saying …
“Folx tales felt more than a celebration of the narrative worldview, it was a re-membering of our ancestors, a call-to-action in justice-doing, and a hootenanny to remind of us of the joy and soul of our community.” — Binh N.
“I loved getting to see so many amazing presenters. I felt welcome and loved by NTI as well as all of the attendees. Every detail was closely planned and ran smoothly. NTI feels like a true community. I loved hearing the reflections of the storytellers and being in that process. Frank and Vicki were incredible and everyone that works for NTI is so approachable and caring.” — Tracy S.
“The open, safe environment. Also, that despite my previous training and practice, the program revealed I have surprisingly large gaps in my awareness of the presence and effects of being a member of a patriarchal society. It certainly changed my path.”
“This experience was unlike any other. I feel like I've continued to find the people I want to walk through life with. Thank you so much to the organizers and the team that put this together, and I so appreciated the emphasis on understanding how to create a collaborative and inspiring learning environment. I learned so much more about the ways of being connected to narrative therapy principles and practices, and it's already having positive effects on my life and my work with others.” — Danielle H.
“Being fairly new to the Narrative Worldview, I was fairly tentative around attending the conference. Yet I was welcomed by many with kindness, curiosity, and invitation. The presentations, and subsequent conversations, were deeply inspiring. The hootenanny was aptly named. It was a conference I will never forget.” — Toby K.